Lincoln’s Legacy: Historic Americana from the Life of Abraham Lincoln

Travertine marble fragment; 4 x 6 in. (101 x 152 mm).

Oak Ridge Cemetery was dedicated on 24 May 1860 with Abraham and Mary Lincoln in attendance. Following Lincoln's death, numerous appeals were made to Mary for his remains to be placed at the city center. Mary, however, recalled her husband telling her during the dedication ceremony that he hoped to one day be buried in the quiet, rural cemetery that was then two miles from downtown Springfield.

And so on 3 May 1865, Abraham Lincoln's long journey back home came to an end. Following a final viewing at the Illinois State House that began at 10 a.m. that day, and lasted twenty-four hours, the coffin was closed and the lead lining soldered shut before it was escorted out of the building to the flower-covered hearse waiting outside. Absent were Mary and Tad Lincoln, who were too distraught to make the journey from Washington to Springfield. Robert Todd marched in the procession in their stead.

Upon the procession's arrival at Oak Ridge Cemetery, they found a crowd of thousands waiting. The remains were slowly marched from the main gate to the receiving vault. A reporter at the time described the vault as being "at the foot of a knoll in a beautiful part of the ground, which contains forest trees and all other varieties. It has a Doric gable resting on pilasters, the main wall being rustic. The vault is fifteen feet high, and about the same in width, with semicircular wings projecting from its hillsides. The material is limestone, procured at Joliet, Illinois." It was here that the remains of Abraham Lincoln, along with his son Willie, were laid to rest, to be joined later by Lincoln's second son Edward. On 21 December, the three coffins were moved to a temporary vault on the hillside above while construction of the Lincoln Tomb commenced.

The original receiving vault was restored in 1960. This piece of marble is accompanied on its verso with a typewritten note by George L. Cashman, then-curator and custodian of Lincoln's Tomb, which reads in full: "This is a fragment of the original marble from the burial vault in Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, Ill., which contained the body of Abraham Lincoln from May 4 to Dec. 21, 1865. Dedicated in 1860-Restored in 1960." It is signed by Cashman and countersigned by notary public Frances M. Oakleaf.

[With:] Photograph of the temporary tomb that housed Lincoln's remains from 1865-1871 in Oak Ridge Cemetery. [Springfield, Illinois], ca. late 1860s. Mounted albumen photograph, 7 1/4 x 9 1/2 in. (184 x 241 mm) (including mount). Minor spotting; minor soiling; evenly toned; wear to edges; mount toned, losses, tears, and spotting throughout to same. Uncredited.

Featured here is a group of men, women, and children relaxing on a tree-spotted hill in front of Lincoln's temporary tomb at Oak Ridge Cemetery. The tomb appears to be decorated with garland and wreaths, and just visible to the viewer's right side of the structure is a sign warning of the assessment of a fine, likely incurred as a result of defacement or vandalism.

This tomb housed the remains of Lincoln and his two sons that preceded him in death (William Wallace Lincoln and Edward Baker Lincoln) from December 1865 until 19 September 1871. It was constructed halfway up the hill between the Oak Ridge Public Receiving Vault, where Lincoln's remains were first brought on 4 May 1865 and remained until 21 December, and the present-day monument at Lincoln's final resting place.

A curious pencil inscription appears on the verso, identifying the subjects as "Mr & Mrs H W Larrabee with guests / from Portland Me / Professor Slarabard & Wife". The image is erroneously dated on same, "Summer of 1886". As the pictured tomb was dismantled in the autumn of 1871, this view could not have been captured in 1886.

RARE: No other records for this photograph were located.

Provenance:

James T. Hickey, historian and collector of Lincolniana, Elkhart, Illinois

Louise Taper, Beverly Hills, California